The present invention relates, in general, to electronics, and more particularly, to methods of forming semiconductor devices and structure.
In the past, the semiconductor industry utilized various methods and structures to build fan out buffers such as fan out buffers for clock distribution networks for various parts of a system. In most embodiments, the fan out buffers used parallel matched paths to try and generate multiple matched clock signals from one clock input signal. It was important to minimize skew between the clock signals from the multiple paths so that the output clock signals were precisely matched in time. However, various parameter mismatches occurred due to process variations, voltage drops on buses, interaction during operation, and other mismatches that resulted in small amounts of skew between the output clock signals. The skew affected the-operation of the system using the clock signals from the fan out buffers. The skew usually caused the system to have to run slower than desired to prevent erroneous system operation.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a fan out buffer that reduces clock skew.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements in the figures are not necessarily to scale, and the same reference numbers in different figures denote the same elements. Additionally, descriptions and details of well-known steps and elements are omitted for simplicity of the description. As used herein current carrying electrode means an element of a device that carries current through the device such as a source or a drain of an MOS transistor or an emitter or a collector of a bipolar transistor or a cathode or anode of a diode, and a control electrode means an element of the device that controls current through the device such as a gate of an MOS transistor or a base of a bipolar transistor. Although the devices are explained herein as certain NPN transistors, a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that complementary devices are also possible in accordance with the present invention.